


Blown in from the West

by InfinityUndone



Category: No Straight Roads (Video Game)
Genre: Brotherly Love, Gen, Humor, Moving In Together, Roommates, dk west is a bad roommate, zuke is frustrated
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-12
Updated: 2021-01-18
Packaged: 2021-03-17 07:41:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,052
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28721574
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/InfinityUndone/pseuds/InfinityUndone
Summary: “So, what’s up?” Zuke asked.“Well, you see bro, I’ve uh, run into some hard times, and I need a place to stay.”Zuke wasn’t sure he’d heard DK West correctly. “You what?”
Relationships: DK West & Zuke (No Straight Roads), Mayday & Zuke (No Straight Roads)
Comments: 7
Kudos: 28





	1. Oh Brother

When Zuke woke up, the first thing he heard was someone knocking on the sewer grate.

Pushing Mayday’s legs off of him, Zuke sat up bleary-eyed. The two of them had a successful concert the night before, and passed out on the couch watching bad tv movies. One of them was still blaring on the screen now, showing some cheesy thriller.

“May, wake up.” Zuke gave his bandmate a gentle shake. “May.” Finally, she grunted and woke up.

“Ugghh… what?” she yawned.

“It’s morning.”

“Well, duh.” Mayday sat up and stretched. “Oooh man, what a night. I think that was our best concert yet.”

Zuke turned off the tv, cutting off a poorly-dubbed scream from the movie's lead actress. “Someone’s at the grate.”

Mayday pulled her hair out of her messy triple buns, letting it fall to her shoulders. “Can you get it? I’ll feed Ellie.”

They got off the couch, Zuke pulling on his sweater and heading to the ladder, Mayday opening the fridge to get something for Ellie.

The knocking on the grate hadn’t ceased, and it was starting to get on Zuke’s nerves. Who could possibly be outside early in the morning?

He pushed open the grate and poked his head out, blinking in the morning sunlight. It took him a moment to see who’d been knocking.

“Morning, bro!”

Zuke suddenly felt very awake as he stared up at the towering form of DK West. “West? What are you doing here?”

West gave him an apologetic grin. “I just wanted to visit you is all.”

Zuke pulled himself out of the hole and onto the street, face-to-face with West. “Really?” he asked suspiciously.

“Zuke! Who is it?” Mayday’s voice echoed from the bottom of the hole.

“My brother is here!”

Mayday came jumping up the ladder, emerging from the sewers. “DK West?” she said in surprise.

“Heeey…” West gave her an awkward wave.

Something was up, Zuke could feel it. West was only shy and humble when he wanted something. If this really was a normal visit, West would have probably slapped him on the back, given a couple of semi-insulting comments, and hit on Mayday already.

“So, what’s up?” Zuke asked.

“Well, you see bro, I’ve uh, run into some hard times, and I need a place to stay.”

Zuke wasn’t sure he’d heard him correctly. “You what?”

“I won’t be any trouble, I swear! I just need to crash on your couch for a few days!”

"What happened to your house?!"

“...broke.” West mumbled.

“You broke your house?!” Mayday exclaimed, shocked.

“No! I went broke and had to sell my house!”

“Jeez, West.” Zuke muttered.

West twisted his hands nervously. “So, how about it, Zuke? Can I stay?”

“No.” Zuke replied, at the same time that Mayday said “Of course!”

They stopped and stared at each other.

“Zuke, why not?” Mayday asked.

“May-”

“He needs help!”

West’s expression resembled a kicked puppy.

“I- excuse us for a sec.” Zuke grabbed Mayday’s arm and pulled her into a nearby alley for a chat.

“Come on Zuke! I thought you guys worked this out! He’s your brother!”

“Yeah, he’s my brother and I love him, but living with him is a completely different story!”

“How bad can he be?”

“May, he’s done this before. I was fresh out of college and had my own place, and he said the exact same thing, that he just needed a place to sleep for a few days. He stayed for six whole months!”

“He just needs to get back on his feet!”

“He ate every piece of food in the apartment! I had to buy a second fridge and keep it secret! And he left his stuff everywhere, and invited his friends over without telling me, and he never cleaned up, and he didn’t even try to help with rent, and he sold my drum set, and he banged a girl in my bed! Twice!” Zuke ranted. “The only reason he left was because I got evicted! BECAUSE OF _HIM_ AND HIS HABIT OF NOT TURNING OFF THE _GODDAMN WATER!”_

“Look, Zuke…” Mayday waited for Zuke to calm down a bit. “I get that he was a terrible roommate. But it’s been a long time since then. And he can change, remember the rap battles?”

“I know, but…”

Mayday patted him on the shoulder. “Zuke, I think we should give him a chance. Just let him stay for a few days.”

Zuke sighed and ran his fingers through his dreadlocks. “Jeez May, since when are you the reasonable one?”

Mayday flashed her trademark grin.

Between May’s adorable smile and West’s puppy-dog eyes, Zuke couldn’t bring himself to say no. He was such an idiot, giving in.

But maybe Mayday had a point. After all the effort Zuke and West had put into mending their relationship, it would be a shame if it ended here. Against his better judgement, Zuke decided to give his brother a chance.

They stepped out of the alley to face West. “Fine, you can stay.” Zuke said.

West brightened up immediately. “Hah! You won’t regret it, Zukey!” He grabbed his bags from the curb.

“But there’ll be some rules. You can’t just do whatever, okay? You can’t eat our food without asking, you have to tell us when you’re inviting someone over, you have to remember if you left the tub on- are you _listening_ to me?!”

“Yeah, yeah.” West said nonchalantly as he lowered himself into the sewer.

Zuke groaned internally. It was like talking to a brick wall. Cursing himself for going along with this, he followed West and Mayday down the ladder.

“Nice place you got here, bro.” West said, looking around the interior. “Is the rent cheap?”

“Non-existent, actually.” Zuke said. “You can take the couch to sleep on, or there’s this air mattress we can dig out.”

“Nah, the couch is great.” West flopped down on it.

“The bathroom’s up that ladder, and the kitchen’s just through here-”

Zuke was interrupted by Ellie skittering past him, making excited alligator noises.

“Ellie! There you are, pretty girl!” Mayday scooped her up and cradled her.

“Wh-what is that?!” yelped West.

“That’s Ellie, our pet alligator.” Zuke explained.

“Does it bite?” West asked nervously.

“No way! Our sweet wittle baby would never do that!” Mayday cooed, kissing Ellie’s snout.

West tentatively petted Ellie, relaxing a bit when the alligator didn’t try to rip his hand off.

“So West, what’s your plan?” Zuke asked.

“Plan for what?”

“To get back on your feet. Are you gonna get a job, or do gigs, or what?”

“Zuke, Zuke, Zuke.” West waved him off. “You know how I am. Jobs aren’t my thing.”

“Then what are you gonna do?”

“What I always do, bro. Go with the flow.” West settled on the couch with his arms behind his head.

“Isn’t that kind of thinking what got you into this mess in the first place?” Zuke said impatiently.

“And it’s gotten me out of every mess I’ve ever been in.”

“West, you have to at least try to make some money. You can’t stay here if you don’t.”

“Whatever, Zuke. It’ll work out.” A hint of annoyance entered West’s voice.

Zuke seethed. Everything he said went in one ear and out the other. Why did he agree to do this?

“Just give him a chance, Zuke!” Mayday whispered encouragingly.

This wouldn't go well.


	2. Brother Blowout

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Zuke was right. West was a terrible roommate.

DK West had been living with Bunk Bed Junction for one week now. And it was one more week than Zuke could take.

“For god’s sake, West.” Zuke sighed when he stepped into the living room, which West had basically claimed as his own. Clothes were strewn on every surface, dirty dishes from West’s late-night snacking were lying around, and the furniture had been rearranged… again.

His eyes fell on a carton of his favorite ice cream that he’d brought home not even twenty-four hours ago. It was completely empty. Zuke felt his temper rising.

“Hey Zuke! What’s for supper?” Mayday called from the bathroom.

“I got this casserole in the fridge, we can heat that up.”

“What kind?”

“Tuna, I think?”

“Yummy!”

Zuke headed into the kitchen, and immediately just felt defeated. He’d cleaned it up that afternoon and it was already a mess. No prizes for guessing who the culprit was. Grumbling to himself, Zuke opened the fridge.

The casserole was not there.

As if on cue, West strode into the kitchen. “Heyyy, Zukey! How’s my favorite little bro?”

“West, do you know what happened to the tuna casserole I left in the fridge?” Zuke asked, already knowing the answer.

“Oh, that one? I ate it.”

“You ate it?” snapped Zuke. “West, that was my supper!”

“Well, sorry bro, but I was hungry.”

“It had a sticky note on it saying ‘Don’t eat this, West’!”

“Huh. Didn’t see it.” shrugged West.

For a moment, Zuke was about to lose his temper, but he forced it down. “Whatever. Can you please clean up all the trash in the living room tonight?”

“Sorry, I’ll get to it.”

“Great. May and I are going out to eat.”

He caught Mayday on her way out of the bathroom. “Something wrong, Zuke?” she asked when she saw his aggravated expression.

“Change of plans. West ate the casserole, so we’re going to Auntie’s.” he muttered.

Mayday looked slightly downcast at his words for a moment, before declaring “Well, uh, that’s fine! Aunty does make killer food!”

It was true, the food was awesome. And it did get Zuke to forget about his brother for a while.

Unfortunately, when they returned to the sewers, they were greeted with an awful sight.

West was snoozing on the couch, dead to the world. The living room was as untidy as ever. And water was trickling down the ladder to the bathroom.

“What the heck?” Mayday wondered. Zuke already knew what they would find as he climbed up and opened the bathroom door.

Warm water rushed out, surging around his ankles and pouring down to the floor below. Stepping inside, Zuke saw the bathtub faucet was running. He turned it off and looked around. The floor was a mess, and the cabinets were damaged.

Zuke’s blood boiled over.

Storming out of the bathroom, he hopped to the ground past Mayday. West was still snoring, blissfully unaware of the trouble he caused.

“WAKE UP!” Zuke yelled at him, and West jolted awake.

“What?! What was that for?!” he exclaimed.

“Look!” Zuke gestured to the river of water still emerging from the bathroom. West’s eyes widened.

“Oh crap… I fell asleep with the water on…”

“Yeah! You sure did!” Zuke snapped.

West stood up. “I’m really sorry, Zuke-”

“Sorry? You’re _sorry?!”_ Zuke said incredulously. “You always do this! You say sorry for something you did, and then you just turn around and do it again!”

“Look, what do you want me to do-”

“PUT IN SOME EFFORT!” Zuke was shouting at this point. “I’m tired of you just doing this all the time! You-you do something bad, and then you say sorry, and then you just keep doing it! You don’t even _try_ to do something right from the start!”

“That’s just how I am, Zuke!” West defended himself.

“THEN THE WAY YOU ARE IS BAD, WEST! You’re a freeloading jerk who never cleans up after himself and who can’t admit you did something wrong! You’re just the way you were the last time you lived with me! You haven’t changed a bit!”

“Zuke, don’t you think that-” Mayday began.

“What, that I’m being too hard on him?! He deserves this, May! And I do too, for being a big enough idiot to think he’d actually changed!”

Mayday looked taken aback, and West had a wounded expression from Zuke’s words.

“Get out of here, West.” Zuke said, his angry yelling replaced with quiet fury.

“You’re kicking me out?” West said in shock.

“Yeah. Like I should’ve done last time. Don’t bother trying to help clean up. Just get your stuff and go.”

West looked like he was waiting for Zuke to change his mind, but after a few moments he realized Zuke was serious. Slowly, he began to gather his things.

Zuke turned to a shocked Mayday. “C’mon. Let’s clean up this mess.” he muttered.

They were still working on mopping up the water when West departed. Zuke didn’t even blink when he heard the sewer grate open and close.

When they were finally done, Zuke went to practice his drums. Mayday didn’t join him, instead deciding to take a walk and clear her head.

Vinyl City was a nice place at night, but not even the shining skyline and music playing could soothe her nerves. Mayday couldn’t help but feel like this was her fault. If she hadn’t pushed Zuke to take in West, their relationship wouldn’t have turned so sour so quickly. And truthfully, while West was a terrible roommate, she didn’t think he was as incapable of change as Zuke did.

But the question now was, how to repair the damage caused? Mayday turned the question over and over in her head, when something caught her attention.

Two young men were performing on a street corner, with several onlookers listening. That was far from uncommon in the city. What gave Mayday pause were the men themselves. One was pounding on a set of bongos, and the other was singing a folk song…

A lightbulb came on in Mayday’s head. She knew how to fix Zuke and West’s relationship.

Now then, all she had to do was find West before he left the city...


	3. Band of Brothers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Once again, it's up to Mayday to use the power of music to repair Zuke and West's relationship.

“Are you sure about this, May? We’ve never played at this venue before.”

“I’m positive, Zuke! C’mon, it’ll be great!”

The building they were standing in was in the farthest outskirts of Vinyl City. It was a small, cheap-looking place filled with a crowd of what Zuke could only describe as hippies. They were far from Bunk Bed Junction’s usual crowd. They almost reminded him of...

No, no, he wasn’t going to think about West tonight. Best to focus on the gig.

“So, you haven’t told me what the plan is.” He said to Mayday.

“Simple. We’re gonna ROCK OUT!” Mayday pumped her fist in the air.

Zuke looked around at the rather low-key crowd. “...Okay.”

They headed backstage, where they met with the concert director. “You two're Bunk Bed Junction, right?” he said.

“Yep!” Mayday replied.

“Awright, you’re goin on at ten, alongside-”

“Ten o’clock! Got it!” Mayday interrupted.

As she led Zuke away, suspicion started growing in his mind. “May, what’s going on?”

“Going on? Nothing.” She said innocently.

“C’mon, I wasn’t born yesterday. Why’d you drag us all the way out here just for a concert?”

“I just thought we should, y’know, branch out more! You never know who secretly has an untapped love of rock music.” She gestured to the crowd, who seemed to be doing some kind of group meditation.

Zuke raised an eyebrow.

“Please, Zuke? When have I ever led you wrong?”

The answer was lots of times, but Mayday’s pleading eyes were enough to get Zuke to give in.

A while later, Zuke and Mayday were looking over their music for the performance. It wouldn’t be long before they went on.

“May, I’m confused.” Zuke said.

“Bout what?”

“Who’s singing? Is it you or me this time?”

“Neither of you.” A familiar voice came from behind them.

Zuke whirled around to see West standing there.

“West?” Zuke looked back at Mayday in confusion.

“Yeah, he’s gonna be on vocals.” she said quietly.

Zuke said nothing.

“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you, Zuke. But I thought you wouldn’t come along if I did!”

“Why?” sighed Zuke.

Mayday was about to answer, but West beat her to it. “Look, bro…”

“Stop calling me bro.” Zuke muttered.

“Zuke, after I left, May here came after me. She said this concert would be a good way to… what was it you said?”

“Mend fences!” Mayday chimed in.

“Right! Anyway, I thought it would be a good idea. The one thing we have in common is we both love music, right?”

Sensing Zuke was about to protest, West added “And... you were right. I _was_ being a freeloading jerk.”

That gave Zuke pause. West never admitted his wrongdoings without prompting. “You mean that?” he said skeptically.

West nodded. “I’ve uh, been doing some thinking, and uh…” His voice trailed off as he searched for the right words. “I shouldn’t’ve uh, been such a bad roommate. I should’ve cleaned up my stuff and not eaten all your food and all that.” He gave an awkward cough. “And I should’ve been nicer. And... I'm sorry. For everything. I mean it."

A silence fell over the three of them, punctuated by the slow singing from the stage.

“So… how about it, Zuke? Are we cool?” West asked cautiously.

Zuke had to think. He was still angry with West for the whole flooding-my-bathroom incident, but on the other hand, West was offering an _apology_. No deflecting blame or anything. For the first time in a long time, he actually seemed to understand what he did wrong.

After a moment, Zuke gave a faint smile. “Yeah, I forgive you.”

He extended his hand for a brotherly handshake, but West had other ideas and pulled him into a bone-crushing hug.

“Oof!” Zuke patted him on the back.

“Group hug!” Mayday joined them.

When they finally broke apart, Zuke added “I guess, if you still need a place to live, we could find you a nice unused part of the sewers to crash in.”

“Appreciate the thought, Zukey, but I’ve got my own place now. Friend of a friend let me lease his apartment.”

“Apartment? Does that mean you’re sticking around the city?”

“Yeah. It’s not so bad now that NSR chilled out.” West said. “Guess that musical revolution you were on about really paid off.”

Zuke was about to say something, but the concert director called to them. “Ay! You three! You’re on!”

“Whoo! Let’s do this! Bunk Bed Junction ft. DK West are in the house!” Mayday cheered, grabbing her guitar and strutted onstage.

“You ready for this, bro?” West asked.

“You bet.” Zuke readied his drumsticks, and the two brothers headed through the curtain.


End file.
